


Scaredy Cat from Ballarat

by placebo



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Angst, but this is mostly just fluffy fluffy fluff, changed the name of the fic :D, jisung gets scared of everything, later chapters might have more, one chapter for each member
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-08-22 01:26:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16588106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/placebo/pseuds/placebo
Summary: Jisung gets frightened by a lot of things, some worse than others.





	1. Seungmin

**Author's Note:**

> so yeah, jisung is a lil scaredy cat (which is so cute) and me, being the Bitch In Love that i am,,, decided to write a whole fic dedicated to that... 
> 
>  
> 
> so here's chapter one!

A screaming comes across the sky, fireworks bursting one after another, and Jisung’s fight or flight response switches on. 

(He doesn’t fight or flee, just jumps at the sound and freezes a tiny bit.)

He’s felt this many times before - when the siren went off when they filmed that halloween special for  _ Dingo,  _ whenever Minho or Seungmin or Jeongin jump out at him from around a corner. This spike of adrenaline, the kind that’s different to when he performs on stage, he’s felt it a lot. Changbin teases him the most about it, how he acts all tough and unafraid until someone sneaks up behind him and whistles in his ear ( _ fuck you too, Felix,  _ Jisung thinks).

So yeah, Jisung is afraid of a lot of things, he gets frightened by a lot more, and even minor things can shake him up in the right circumstances. He’s not even sure why - he remembers growing up and witnessing his mother screeching every time a bug flew into the kitchen, but he’s not  _ that  _ afraid of bugs (the harmless ones, anyway), and he had never been warned  _ against  _ the supernatural, but he’s still  _ afraid  _ of ghosts. 

Maybe he just has a penchant for startling at minor things, like when fireworks go off without warning.

Jisung wishes he could act unaffected by the loud popping of fireworks nearby, but it’s difficult when his body disagrees with his brain on what’s dangerous or not. It’s not like he’s  _ actually  _ afraid of them like he’s afraid of spiders and ghosts the supernatural, but the loud noises are like real-life jump-scares. 

Not scary, but loud enough and unexpected enough to frighten him momentarily.

And the fireworks come while Jisung is under one of the tents set up, Seungmin beside him and the rest of Stray Kids outside, while he’s filming himself and Seungmin. They’re loud and abrupt and Jisung is (reasonably, he argues) frightened by the suddenness of it all.

It doesn’t help that Seungmin is, for lack of a better word,  _ shit  _ at comforting people. He can give advice - he’s good at that, and sure, sometimes the words he says are more comforting that any physical contact could be, but advice doesn’t do shit when Jisung’s heart rate accelerates the second he hears the loud  _ bang  _ of fireworks. 

He’s not even talking right now, just pretending to shoot at Jisung’s head in time with the fireworks, pretending like the sounds are coming from his imaginary gun, while Jisung yelps and the camera shakes.

The fireworks die down, and Jisung is able to laugh it off, but his hands still shake, just slightly. Not enough for the camera to pick up on, but enough for Seungmin to notice, who drags Jisung outside and distracts him with the other members.

Once Jisung gets over that initial fear he can appreciate them fully, too, once the second round is fired into the air, filling the sky with gorgeous colours and patterns that Jisung can’t help but gawk at. Seungmin steals the camera from him, then, disappearing from Jisung’s side to hang out with Felix, and Jisung looks for someone to pester.

Maybe everything was just so hectic that he was able to brush it all off so quickly, because as soon as they head to the van to go home, Jisung can’t help but remember the  _ bang  _ and the way his hands shook when he jumped at the sound. He’s dead tired - everyone is - but when he slips into the back of the van and shuts his eyes, he finds he can’t sleep. He’s more embarrassed than frightened at this point, he thinks, but he can’t stop remembering it.

He keeps his eyes screwed shut anyway, desperately trying to fall asleep, and usually he  _ can,  _ when he’s not stuck thinking about being frightened over harmless fireworks. He stays still as Seungmin slips into the other seat in the back, pretends to be asleep when he whispers Jisung’s name, when three others - Chan and Minho and Hyunjin, he thinks - climb into the middle row.

It’s unusual for Seungmin to be here. Seungmin likes to travel with Jeongin, to annoy him when Jeongin actually  _ can’t  _ escape, but Jeongin isn’t around, Jisung knows what sleepy Jeongin sounds like and no one in the van is Jeongin.

The lights are kept off, everyone dozing off except Jisung as the van moves as smoothly as it can. Jisung sighs, flinging an arm over his face.

“Jisung?” Seungmin whispers, hushed enough that only Jisung can hear him. Jisung freezes.

“What’s up?” Jisung replies, just as softly. There’s no point in pretending to be asleep now.

Seungmin shuffles in his seat. Jisung can’t see what’s happening, but by the soft whirring of the seat he assumes Seungmin is sitting upright (which, he thinks, is dangerous to do in a moving vehicle, but he’s too tired to question anything right now).

“Why aren’t you asleep?”

“Why aren’t  _ you  _ asleep?” Jisung counters, almost petulantly. If the lights were on, and if Jisung were looking at Seungmin right now, he imagines a scathing glare has been sent his way. When Seungmin doesn’t speak he assumes he’s correct and, sighing, adds, “I’m just thinking too much. Don’t worry about it.”

For a long time still, Seungmin doesn’t speak, or move, or make any noise at all. Jisung almost thinks he’s fallen back asleep until he hears the telltale  _ snap  _ of fingers, indicating Seungmin’s conclusion after thinking a long while.

“It’s the fireworks, isn’t it?”

Oh,  _ bingo.  _ Jisung makes a noise of affirmation.

“I thought you were okay? Why are you thinking about it now?” Seungmin’s moving in his seat again, and his hand presses against Jisung’s arm. As much as Jisung thinks Seungmin is bad at physical comfort, the touch does help somewhat, with something.

“It’s just,’ Jisung sighs, and Seungmin’s hand trails down Jisung’s arm to his hand, twining their fingers together. “It’s embarrassing.”

Another long pause. Seungmin’s fingers tighten. “You act like an adult too often,” he mutters. “You’re allowed to be scared of things.”

“But I’m  _ not  _ scared of fireworks,” Jisung whines. “They just frighten me. It’s  _ embarrassing  _ that I got so scared over nothing.”

“Fireworks aren’t  _ nothing.  _ A lot of people are scared of fireworks. Dogs, too,” Seungmin adds, snickering when Jisung makes an affronted noise.

“Are you saying I’m like a  _ dog? _ ” Jisung pouts, then remembers Seungmin can’t really see him in the dark and pinches him in the forearm instead. Seungmin yelps, the sound cutting off abruptly when Chan shifts from his seat like he’s about to wake up. He settles back down almost immediately (and thankfully, he needs the sleep he can get), his snores once again filling the silence.

“ _ I’m  _ the puppy here, Sungie,” Seungmin says, reminding Jisung of the nickname Stays call Seungmin all too often. “But for the record, I always imagined you as one of those harmless tiny dogs, the really loud ones that bark at anything.”

“Yeah? Well you’re like an evil chihuahua. All bark and all bite.”

“I don’t think that’s how the saying goes.”

“The saying goes how I want it to go,” Jisung counters, and Seungmin’s hand slips from his just before he bursts out laughing, saving everyone from the wrath of a sleepy Minho. 

They fall into a lull, silence filling the van (save for Chan’s snoring), and Jisung feels his eyes slipping shut. His mind is no longer racing, he finds, sleep threatening to overtake him any moment. 

“Hey, Seungmin?” he whispers. Seungmin doesn’t reply, possibly asleep, but Jisung continues anyway. “Thanks for - distracting me, I guess.”

He shuts his eyes fully, and dozes for the rest of the trip back home.


	2. Jeongin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What was that,” Jeongin whispers, voice trembling.

The dorm is dark when Jisung stumbles home, slipping through the front door as quietly as he can and shutting it behind him softly. His eyes burn with fatigue, burn more when he rubs them, but for a while he stands in the darkness alone, unwilling to move. It takes him a while until he even turns on his phone torch, illuminating the room with just enough light to see, but little enough that strange shadows are cast across the walls and ceiling. Jisung shivers.

The darkness is always uncomfortable. When he's arriving home late at night, everyone else asleep, it's more uncomfortable than usual. They've forgotten to leave a light on again. Jisung doesn't blame them - when they get tired they don't think clearly, they forget little things easily, but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with.

The bedrooms are to Jisung's right. He turns to the left, towards the kitchen, instead, not because he feels particularly hungry or thirsty, but because he doesn't enjoy trying to sleep in a room where everyone is already asleep, and has been for a while. And Chan had always told him to drink water before bed, especially after a day of forgetting to eat and drink.

(Maybe, he's trying to delay going to sleep, avoiding his bedroom.)

Jisung fumbles with the light switch for a moment before turning it on, the lights flooding the kitchen and making him wince. His eyes hurt, he blinks furiously before trudging to the cupboard and pulling it open. It creaks, he flinches at the sound, then sighs at the lack of glasses on the lower shelf.

He stretches up on his tiptoes to grab a glass, his limbs moving sluggishly. When he hears something from the other side of the kitchen, the door handle clicking, he freezes. His heart races as he turns around slowly.

It's just Jeongin. Jisung sighs in relief, relaxing from his tensed posture. His heart still pounds in his chest. Jeongin shuts the door quietly, padding over to Jisung's side.

"You should be asleep," Jisung murmurs, turning on the faucet.

"I got thirsty," Jeongin replies. He doesn't make a move towards the cupboard, just stares at Jisung while he fills up the glass. "Hyung..."

Jisung hums in acknowledgement.

"Are you okay?"

Jisung blinks in surprise, "I'm just tired, Innie," he says.

Jeongin stares at Jisung a moment longer. "You should sleep more." His gaze leaves Jisung's face as he heads to the cupboard. Jisung stares at him, opens his mouth to ask why Jeongin cares before shutting it again, staying quiet.

The tap is still running, cold water spilling over the glass and onto Jisung’s fingers. He tugs it out from underneath the tap, gasping when more splashes out the glass and runs down his hand, his forearm, dripping to the floor. 

Carefully, before he spills any more, he slurps the water from the top until it’s safe to chug. He drains the glass, dumping it next to the sink.

The light flickers.

Jeongin snickers at Jisung's flinch, knocking him lightly out of the way to get his own glass of water.

“You’re such a scaredy cat, hyung,” he giggles as Jisung pouts at him. The water’s cleared his head, feeling less sluggish and more awake - though still tired as shit,  _ God  _ he needs to sleep soon. 

His fingers tap against the counter, a rhythm he makes up on the spot, and Jeongin begins humming along. When he shuts off the faucet, it’s the only sound in the room.

And then suddenly, abruptly, a door slams with a loud  _ bang.  _ Jisung freezes, heart seizing in terror as the glass slips from Jeongin’s hand, crashing into the sink and splashing water over the two of them, the younger frozen similarly to Jisung..

It’s almost like they lunge for each other, clinging to each other tightly, hearts racing, as they wait for anymore sounds.  _ Silence. _

“What was that,” Jeongin whispers, voice trembling. His hands are wrapped round Jisung’s upper arm, squeezing so tightly it hurts, but Jisung just tugs Jeongin close.

His voice is just as shaky as he guesses, “the wind?” and wraps his free arm around Jeongin.

(This is one of the only times he’ll get to hug Jeongin like this without the younger pushing him away, he thinks, pushing that thought to the back of his mind as it focuses on more pressing issues.)

Jeongin shakes his head. “I shut all the windows before going to bed.”

Something creaks, shuffles, from outside the kitchen. 

“Chan hyung?” Jisung calls. The shuffling stops briefly, then starts up again before fading out, and silence falls over the dorm once more.

“That didn’t sound like hyung,” Jeongin whimpers. 

He’s right. Chan usually shuts the door quietly, makes no sounds when he arrives home. He doesn’t shuffle, either.

“I don’t know what else it could be,” Jisung replies.

He’s unprepared for a steely resolve to come over Jeongin, his eyes hardening and back straightening as he lets go of Jisung. “Let’s go check.”

“What?”  _ Bad idea. _ “Jeongin…” 

Jeongin has already begun walking out of the kitchen, and, realising the fear of being left alone far outweighs the fear of whatever is out  _ there,  _ Jisung follows.

The room is empty, the door to their bedrooms wide open. It’s still dark, Jisung’s phone in hand but the torch not on. The little moonlight there is casts deep shadows around them, everything still feeling eerie.

“See?” Jisung whispers. “There’s nothing. We’re fine.”

“You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself that.” Jeongin smiles drowsily at Jisung. “Let’s just go to sleep, hyung.”

_ By morning we’ll think it was silly,  _ goes unsaid, but Jisung privately agrees with Jeongin. He lets Jeongin grasp his hand as they make their way to their rooms. 

Jeongin’s room is first, snores filling the air as they open the door quietly. Jisung lets go of Jeongin’s hand, hovering in the doorway as Jeongin creeps towards his bed. 

He’s not delaying for any other reason, he just wants to make sure Jeongin gets to bed safely. The hallway is dark and frightening, and he still can’t stop thinking about the shuffling sound from earlier, but he can make it to his own room alone fine.

He  _ can. _

Jeongin turns around and glances at Jisung, still hovering in the doorway. “Hyung?”

“Yeah, Jeonginnie?”

“Stay with me tonight? I’m still scared.” Jeongin pouts, and even if Jisung wasn’t afraid to be alone in a dark hallway, he would have said yes because of the pout alone. 

“Oh thank  _ god,” _ he mutters under his breath. Jeongin probably hears him, if the way he giggles lightly is anything to go by. “Yeah Innie, I will.”

Jeongin smiles cutely and drags Jisung to his bed, clambering in first and sliding to the edge, back turned to Jisung. He clambers in after Jeongin, wrapping an arm around him. Jeongin’s hair tickles his nose.

“Do you feel better now, Hyung?” Jeongin whispers, just loud enough for Jisung to hear.

“Yeah. Thanks, Innie. Love you,” he adds, smiling when Jeongin mumbles it back to him, already falling asleep in Jisung’s embrace.


	3. Woojin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Woojin, in all his entirety, exudes comfort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soft woosung for u all! i had fun writing this on a ridiculously long plane journey hehe

“Are you fucking  _ serious _ ?”

Seungmin grins evilly “Dead.”

Jisung tries to lunge at Seungmin — just in time, Hyunjin yanks him back, wraps himself around Jisung to keep him still. 

To any outsiders looking in, their group must look a mess. 

(They  _ are  _ a mess, and they’re an even  _ bigger  _ mess without their four eldest members.)

Seungmin leaning smugly against the wall, Jeongin and Felix snickering from the corner of Seungmin’s bed he’s allowed them on. Hyunjin, the closest to Jisung, forced to hold him back before fists start flying. They’re forming a sort-of-circle, clustered together in Hyunjin, Seungmin and Jisung’s room.

The game they’re playing? Truth or dare. And Jisung? He  _ never  _ rejects a dare.

“C’mon Sung, you’re not a  _ coward,  _ are you?”

Except maybe this one.

Movie night — but not the one for all of them.  _ Horror night,  _ Minho gleefully calls it. All the youngest except Seungmin tend to sit out; Jeongin claims sleepiness and crawls into bed early, Felix doesn’t like the quote-on-quote  _ bloody bits,  _ and Hyunjin and Jisung both have weak hearts, though to varying degrees.

(Besides, skipping horror nights just means Jisung can cuddle Hyunjin longer, if he’s not using the time to work on music.)

So of course, Seungmin has given Jisung the most awful dare imaginable. Or, well, the most awful dare he can give Jisung that doesn’t involve leaving their home or doing anything illegal (or just morally dubious).

“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to,” Hyunjin murmurs.

Oh, but he  _ does.  _ His  _ ego  _ is on the line — he’s never skipped a dare and he’s  _ not  _ about to do it now. Horror film be damned, if Jisung has to watch it to complete Seungmin’s awful dare, he’ll  _ watch the fucking film. _

Jisung stops trying to attack Seungmin, slumping back in Hyunjin’s arms. 

Begrudgingly, he asks, “what’s it called?” and that’s that. He’s watching the film now. No turning back.

(No matter how much he wants to surrender, to give up and let Hyunjin cuddle him in consolation.)

Seungmin shrugs. “Something paranormal. Woojin hyung said it was good.”

Jisung shivers, silently resigning himself to his fate. At least right now, Hyunjin is hugging him tightly, comfortingly.

Walking into the living room, seeing the image on the TV screen, Jisung shivers again. Though, this time it’s partly because of just how  _ cold  _ the room is, thermostat turned as low as it goes, probably.

(Still, it can mostly be attributed to the creepy girls on the screen, the lettering of  _ Silenced  _ in the title 

Seungmin is ahead of Jisung, collapsing on one of the beanbags in the middle of the floor. Chan is on the other beanbag, Changbin and Minho on the larger couch and Woojin on the smaller. Woojin sits in a way he takes up most of the space, but Jisung weasels his way into a small gap, cuddling up to Woojin instinctively. 

“ _ Why  _ is it so  _ cold  _ in here,” he mutters, pressing closer into Woojin’s side in an attempt to absorb as much heat as possible.

“What are you doing?” Woojin asks instead, though his arms move to circle around Jisung. “You don’t like horror.”

“Answer my question  _ first,”  _ Jisung whines, tacking on a  _ hyung  _ at the end when Woojin shoots him a warning look.

Woojin chuckles. “Minho likes it cold. Says it helps with the mood.”

Jisung frowns. “So you’re uncomfortable  _ and  _ watching scary shit? That doesn’t sound nice.”

“Then dont watch the movie,” Minho calls. His mouth is stuffed full of popcorn. Changbin visibly screws his face up in disgust.

Jisung glares at Minho with the full strength of a squirrel who’s had all his nuts stolen by a pesky cat. “Maybe I  _ want  _ to watch this,” he retorts petulantly, tightening his arms around Woojin. 

“We’re not dumb, Sung,” Changbin says. “Someone put you up to this.”

He stares at Seungmin. It takes a few moments for Seungmin to notice Changbin, but when he does he just shrugs.

“You know Jisung never turns down a dare.”

Minho bursts into laughter. “You’re a fucking  _ demon,  _ Minnie, I love you  _ so much. _ ”

“Love you too, hyung,” Seungmin replies sweetly,  _ too sweetly.  _ Demon.

Chan is the one who starts the film, presses play while everyone else settles into their most comfortable positions. Jisung clings to Woojin like an oversized koala, stealing as much warmth as he can. One of Woojin’s hands rests on Jisung’s back, the other playing with his hair.

As far as horror films go, the beginning isn’t bad. Creepy — Jisung gets creepy vibes from a  _ lot  _ of things — but not especially scary. In fact, he manages to keep his eyes on the screen for a whole  _ thirty minutes  _ (approximately) before a creepy dead girl appears under a staircase, successfully scaring the ever-living  _ shits  _ out of Jisung.

He yelps, his fight-flight instinct kicking in when he flips around rapidly to bury his face in Woojin’s chest.

Woojin strokes Jisung’s hair to soothe him, cradling Jisung’s right hand (currently fisted in Woojin’s shirt) with his free one. 

It’s common for Chan to refer to Woojin as a bear-of-sorts: the Papa Bear from Goldilocks (the family friendly Goldilocks where nobody dies); Paddington Bear (posher than Woojin, but still in possession of Big Woojin Energy); Big Ted from Playschool (an Australian childrens show that Jisung — neither Australian  _ nor  _ a child — had been forced to watch after admitting he had never heard of it) and so on and so on and so on.

Jisung is inclined to agree, except  _ real  _ bears are terrifying and Woojin — Woojin is the  _ furthest  _ from terrifying Jisung can imagine.

Woojin, in all his entirety, exudes  _ comfort.  _ He’s a safe presence, trusting, loving, and best of all,  _ very good  _ at using these traits to distract Jisung from the imminent death about to occur to one of the girls on screen.

The warmth emanating from his body, his large hands — completely covering Jisung’s own hand — and the soft manner in which he whispers, the gentleness in his fingertips. Jisung can’t block out the sounds of the film, but as long as he doesn’t  _ watch,  _ stays with Woojin and focuses on his thumb rubbing circles into Jisung’s wrist, he’ll be fine. Mostly.

(He doesn’t ever say this, but he would trust Woojin with his entire life.)

And, luckily, Seungmin never specified just  _ how  _ Jisung had to watch the film — curled against Woojin and completely ignoring the entire thing is  _ totally  _ allowed. He’s still in the same room, it still counts.

He can hear everyone’s reactions: Minho’s  _ ooh  _ at an intriguing scene; Seungmin’s little gasps whenever something (Jisung assumes is) scary happens; Chan overreacting in an attempt to keep the mood light and cheerful in a too-cold-room with a  _ horror film  _ playing.

A loud  _ bang!  _ sounds from the TV. Jisung squeaks, flinches, attempts to press  _ even closer  _ to Woojin. 

Woojin, to his credit, doesn’t say a word — not to Jisung — just accepts Jisung’s clinginess and accommodates himself for it, one arm wrapping fully around Jisung’s waist to hold him tight.

In all honesty, Jisung doesn’t know when he falls asleep, if it’s during the film or during the credits or even after, refusing to get off Woojin because he’s too comfortable. He just knows he’s woken up on the same small couch, Woojin snoring softly underneath him. The arm around Jisung’s waist is a dead weight, but Jisung can’t bring himself to leave Woojin’s embrace.

So he doesn’t, shutting his eyes after surveying the room and letting sleep take him in Woojin’s arms, safe and warm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> want more evidence woojin is a Big Friendly Bear? he sounds just like how cup gum honey tastes if u know that honey u know what im talking about


	4. Felix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You named the fucking spider?”
> 
> Felix blinks at Jisung innocently. “Why shouldn’t I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its been a while!! sorry if this is bad, too, it’s almost one am as i upload this lol

Most of the time, Jisung is glad he met Felix. They’re like two peas in a pod, born just hours apart,  _ soulmates,  _ really. Best friends, Jisung’s best-est friend outside of Changbin, someone Jisung can go to time and time again for any of his troubles and he knows he won’t get judged. 

Even late at night, when the two of them can’t sleep or just don’t want to sleep, the conversations they have in the living room huddled under layers of blankets, drifting off together at three in the morning after debating the existence of aliens or the likelihood of time travel or, on one particular night when Jisung had felt tipsy from adrenalin, thinking up as many reasons to believe in scientology as possible.

(They had thought of exactly none that couldn’t be immediately refuted.)

Most of the time, Jisung loves Felix. Sometimes, like  _ right now,  _ for instance, he thinks he would rather smash his face into a concrete wall than step anywhere near Felix. Un-fucking-fortunately for him, he’s stuck sharing a hotel room with Felix, and while he  _ could  _ just walk the three metres to Hyunjin’s room it’s also  _ one o’clock,  _ and no one but Jisung and Felix are awake right now.

“It’s  _ okay,  _ Sungie. I’ll just take Georgie outside.” Felix cradles the glass carefully, giggling at Jisung’s affronted gaze.

“You  _ named  _ the fucking spider?”

Felix blinks at Jisung innocently. “Why shouldn’t I?”

Jisung sputters. “Because it’s a  _ spider? _ ”

“Don’t be mean, Sung,” Felix scolds, playful grin only widening at Jisung’s scowl. “Spiders are our  _ friends. _ ”

_ Yeah, as if.  _

“Tell your friend not to harass me while I’m sleeping, then,” Jisung whines. Felix just laughs at him again, opening the door carefully so as not to drop the glass (and by extension, the spider whom Jisung is absolutely  _ not  _ going to call Georgie, by the way.)

“I’ll be back soon, Jisungie,” Felix calls. The door shuts, and Jisung is left alone.

Pause. Rewind back to ten minutes ago. Play.

Picture this: Jisung is settling down in bed, ready to sleep. Felix is in the bathroom, brushing his teeth. Jisung, tired as all shit, just wants to sleep but he’s waiting for Felix to get out of the bathroom and turn the lights off. Jisung shuts his eyes anyway, figuring he’ll get some rest before Felix joins him.

(They have a second bed, but they don’t usually bother using it. Felix is comfortable and Jisung likes being held.)

Jisung hears Felix turn the tap off. He relaxes further into the bed. He’s about ready to drift off, fully expecting to fall right to sleep when he feels  _ something  _ brush against his leg.

Now, Jisung is not usually one to expect the worst. In this moment, however, the  _ worst  _ is what he imagines. Of course, reality turns out to be much more mundane and less frightening than Jisung’s  _ worst,  _ however it’s still utterly terrifying.

Like any reasonable human, Jisung’s first instinct is to rip off his sheets and let out an ear piercing screech when he sees a spider - a fucking  _ massive hairy ass spider - _ crawl across the bed. Felix, like a normal human, bolts out of the bathroom at the sound of Jisung’s cry, eyes frantic and worried. And then, seeing the spider, like someone who has gone completely off his rocket mad, he starts to laugh.

“You screamed over this? It’s just a spider.”

“Just a spider?  _ Just  _ a  _ spider??” _

Felix rolls his eyes good naturedly. “Ji, it’s a huntsman. It won't hurt you.”

“It’s already hurting me emotionally, Lix.”

“Don’t be dramatic.”

“I am in  _ severe  _ emotional pain right now, don’t laugh at me!”

Felix, ever the brave one in their little duo (which doesn't say much at all, he’s still a fucking wimp) is ingenious enough to take a glass and a sheet of paper. Jisung watched with horrific fascination as the spider just crawls under the cup, Felix picking it up like he would every other everyday object. 

And then he had left, which leaves Jisung alone in the hotel room, fear creeping up his spine slowly. He’s not afraid for Felix’s sake, not really, but being alone with a high possibility of more bugs and insects and -  _ spiders  _ \- appearing out of nowhere king of just… squicks him out. Maybe he doesn't want to lie in bed anymore, but that’s neither here nor there.

With every passing second that Felix doesn't return, Jisung grows more antsy. He’s not worried about Felix (he’s a little worried about Felix), he just would rather be with a real human than alone with…  _ bugs. _

He feels something against his leg again, but when he looks there's nothing there. His heart thuds in his chest painfully as he leaps up to search for any bugs or anything. Nothing comes up, but Jisung doesn’t sit back on that bed, moving to the other one decisively.

It’s another five minutes until Felix returns, glass still in hand but held much more lax, much more as if he’s just holding a glass and not making a snowglobe out of said glass and a spider. He tosses the glass onto the bench, making his way to Jisung.

Jisung has managed to relax himself fully at Felix’s arrival. Thank god he hasn't been killed by the definitely evil (Felix was absolutely lying) spider. Jisung doesn't think he’d be up for vengeance or justice, even if it’s for Felix.

“Did you see any more?” Felix asks, running a hand through Jisung’s hair. The touch is comfortime. 

“I felt something crawl on my leg but I didn’t see anything.”

Felix humms. “A ghost touch.” He leans into Jisung, whispers directly into his ear, “It’s the spirit of a spider you killed once before in your life. It just wants revenge.”

Jisung yelps, whacking Felix as hard as he can. He relishes in the whine Feix lets out, clutching his arm in mock pain. “Stop being mean to me and turn the lights off,” he grumbles, pouting at Felix when that doesn't seem to work.

Felix rolls his eyes again, but concedes to Jisung’s wishes, flicking off each light in the room. It’s clearly more difficult to walk back to Ji sung's bed in the dark, judging by the distinct  _ ah, fuck,  _ Jisung hears a few times. 

And then Felix is beside Jisung, crawling into bed with him and draping an arm over Jisung’s waist, fingers playing with the hem of his shirt mindlesy. Jisung semi-consciously presses back into Felix’s embrace, his warmth familiar and soothing. He’s already forgotten any grudges he might have held.

“Don’t worry, there won’t be any more bugs,” Felix whispers.

“Are you sure?” Jisung replies, twisting in Felix’s embrace to shoot him a  _ look. _

“One-hundred-percent.” Felix tightens his arm around Jisung. “Let’s sleep now, Ji.”

Jisung doesn't want to sleep, he doesn't think. The adrenalin might be seeping out of him but he’s still worried about the bugs. What might happen if he’s asleep and one finds him, crawls on him and up to his face… 

“But-“

“ _ Sleep,”  _ he repeats, more forcefully this time. “I’ll protect you from any bugs, yeah?”

Jisung sighs, but he can actually feel his eyes drooping now that the adrenalin is wearing off. Yeah, he’s shit tired.

“Yeah, okay,” he murmurs, humming when Felix rubs his sides in consolation.

Jisung burrows into Felix’s embrace one last time before shutting his eyes and drifting off. He doesn’t feel the weird phantom bug sensation for the rest of the night.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/hyunsungbot) for sneak peeks of further works or send a question/comment on [cc!](https://curiouscat.me/chulivia)
> 
> and dont forget to leave comments and kudos they keep me breathing! muah


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